WWE United States Championship
The United States Championship is the secondary championship of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the Intercontinental Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was originally established as an NWA championship in 1975, and became a WCW-sanctioned championship in 1988. After having been retired in 2001 while in the hands of the then-WWF, it was re-established under the WWE's SmackDown brand in 2003, and has since moved between both brands on different occasions, mainly as a result of the WWE Draft. 'History' 'Origin' The WWE United States Championship was originally known as the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship and began as a regional championship created by and defended in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, run by Jim Crockett Jr. Following the title's introduction in 1975, Harley Race became the inaugural champion on January 1. The title quickly replaced the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship as the top singles title in the promotion. While the National Wrestling Alliance recognized only one World Heavyweigh Champion, there was no single undisputed U.S. Champion as a number of NWA regional promotions recognized their own version of the title and champion. That all changed, however, in January 1981 when the NWA territory based out of San Francisco, the last remaining promotion outside the Mid-Atlantic territory that recognized its own U.S. Champion, folded. 'WCW and WWF' The title remained the primary championship within the Mid-Atlantic territory until 1986 when Crockett gained control of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The U.S. Title then became the secondary championship of the promotion. After Ted Turner bought the company and renamed it World Championship Wrestling in November 1988, the title continued to be used and recognized as a secondary championship to the World Heavyweight Championship. WCW eventually began to slowly pull itself away from the NWA, demonstrated by the company changing the name of the title to the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) United States Heavyweight Championship in January 1991. In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) purchased World Championship Wrestling, and with that, the United States Championship became WWF property. Throughout 2001, the title was referred to as the WCW United States Championship, as this was during The Invasion period. At Survivor Series 2001, the title was unified with the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The United States Champion, Edge, defeated the Intercontinental Champion, Test, becoming the new Intercontinental Champion and the United States Championship was then deactivated. 'Recommissioning and Brand Designations' In July 2003, the title was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship by SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon, and was commissioned to be a secondary championship to the SmackDown! brand. This was done shortly after the WWE Intercontinental Championship was recommissioned by the Raw brand, making the title its equal counterpart. However, WWE has yet to officially declare whether the United States Championship can be an acceptable substitute to complete the Triple Crown and/or the Grand Slam (though both John "Bradshaw" Layfield in 2006 and The Miz in 2010 have claimed said status with their U.S. Championship reigns). The title remained on SmackDown until April 13, 2009, when reigning champion Montel Vontavious Porter was drafted from SmackDown over to Raw during the 2009 WWE Draft, moving the title with him. On April 26, 2011, reigning champion Sheamus was drafted to SmackDown during the Supplemental Draft, returning the United States Championship to SmackDown. Five days later, Raw's Kofi Kingston defeated Sheamus for the title at Extreme Rules, returning the title to Raw. Category:Active Championships